The Walrus and the Warwolf

you.'

'Always good to meet old friend,' said Mike. 'Come inside.'

And in they went, as the sky, truly unhappy, began weeping.

66

The prospects for piracy: with the west of Argan overrun by the Swarms, prospects are poor. There is a little north-south trade between Stokos and the Ravlish Lands, but most pirates have been reduced to supporting themselves by fishing and sealing.

The five – Blackwood, Miphon, Drake, Scouse and Lurghen – followed Whale Mike to his home cave. On entering, they saw two children of about a year's growth squadding around inside a playpen.'These my kids,' said Whale Mike. 'They twins.'

'Very nice,' said Drake, peering at the smiling little mannikins. One waved at him with a little fist. The other was mauling a toy dragon made out of wood and sealskin. 'Where did they come from?'

'Oh, your father not tell you how make babies? said Whale Mike. 'Never mind. You learn some day.''You mean – these are your children?'

'Oh, sure, they not as big as me,' said Whale Mike. 'But they grow. We all start small, that not so? Come meet my wife.''You're – you're married?' said Drake. 'He is indeed,' said a voice.

The voice belonged to a petite woman who wore her hair in a multitude of small plaits. Unless Drake was very much mistaken, this was Darlinda, who had once been married to Plovey of the Regency.

'This my wife,' said Whale Mike. 'She Darlinda.'

Drake bowed, and introduced the others in his party to Darlinda. Standing beside Whale Mike, Darlinda looked ridiculously small. Drake, being what he was, could not help but wonder about the mechanics of their mating. It occurred to him that if he had managed to marry King Tor' s daughter, as he had once hoped to, he would have looked as daft beside her as Darlinda did alongside Whale Mike.Maybe he had had a lucky escape.'Do you like it here?' said Drake to Darlinda.'It's nice,'she said.'Except. . .it's very bare. Allrock.'

'You like my wife?' said Whale Mike to Drake. 'That too bad, she too small for you.'

And Mike laughed uproariously. Then he insisted that they all go and see his ship. This proved to be an open, undecked boat with a single mast and a dozen rowing benches. It was moored in a cave which was open to the sea.Tt'sgreat,' saidDrake. 'Where did you get it?'

Tmake,' said Whale Mike. 'That good thing, makeship. We had wreck, I get plenty timber, I make ship. This ship I call Walrus. That good name.''What does Slagger Mulps think about that?' said Drake.

'Oh, he got other things to worry about,' said Whale Mike. 'You like my ship? We raid north.''When do you plan to do that?' said Drake.

'Oh, we been many times. Me, IshUlpin, Ika Thole, other jokers. We raid cabbage, we raid cauliflower, also carrots, turnips, parsnips, beetroot, sheeps and chickens. Sometimes we raid Ravlish Lands, sometimes we raid Lorp.'

Which made Drake realize that the life of a pirate had changed considerably since he was last on the Teeth. Pirates used to raid for silk, gold and high-class slaves – not for vegetables.

'You want crew with me?' said Whale Mike. 'That good, all friends together.'

T would,' said Drake. 'But me and my companions, we've sworn ourselves to other ventures. We're going to Lingforpearls.'

'Ah, Ling,' said Whale Mike. 'That place sound very interesting. I hear many tales. Maybe I go with you. We get pearls, Darlinda like that. She like pretty thing. We get stores, we leave tomorrow.''In that?' said Drake, pointing at Mike's open boat.

'Why not?' said Whale Mike. 'Walrus good ship. She go plenty distance, no problem.'

Then, seeing Drake's dismay, Whale Mike broke out into belly-shaking laughter, and slapped his thighs.

T talk truth now,' said Mike. 'Joke over. We go to Knock. Good ships there. Still, it not easy get crew for Ling. Maybe you go south after all in Walrus. But that okay. We get there. My ship good ship.'

'Aye,' said Drake. 'If your ship proves to be the only way to go, we'll chance it thus.'

'You may, perhaps,' said Blackwood. 'Some of us have other plans.'

'Come, man,' said Drake. 'We're all good friends here – are we not?'

He spoke lightly, but the way he looked at Blackwood was intended to remind that lord of Estar of the fragility of his position. Drake was on home ground, with friends like Whale Mike to back up his actions. Blackwood and the others were foreigners, who lived on sufferance.

T think,' said Miphon quietly, seeing how things stood, 'that we'll be more than happy to go south to Ling.'He could hardly say otherwise.

Five days later, Drake's party arrived at Knock on Whale Mike's open boat, the Walrus. With them were Mike himself, and also Bucks Cat, Ika Thole, Ish Ulpin, Simp Fiche and Andranovory. Drake was uneasy about having so many potential enemies travelling with them – but Mike had insisted that his good friends come along.

At Knock, the Walrus found haven in the Inner Sleeve. Drake had first been there as a boy. He was returning as a man, with man-sized tasks ahead of him.

In the Inner Sleeve was the longest, leanest, most beautiful ship which Drake had ever set eyes on. She was the

Dragon. She had four masts and carried a crew of three hundred. She was owned equally by Jon Arabin, Slagger Mulps, Bluewater Draven and Abousir Belench.That was the ship Drake wanted!It looked almost fast enough to fly.

But liberating that ship for a journey down to Ling . . . ah, that was going to be no easy task.

Also in the Inner Sleeve were smells of tar and sewage, smells which came to him enriched by memory. The caves were smaller than he remembered, and quieter; there were fewer people, and those less healthy.

Drake realized that both Blackwood and Miphon were nervous. He said nothing to calm them. Let them sweat! Their lordships knew by now that they would never get off the Greater Teeth without Drake's help. Without Drake's old friendships, they would never have got a boat from Chastity Bay. And now they were not sure how far they could trust Drake.

Drake took his party to meet Jon Arabin, who looked older, and had taken to walking with a slight stoop.And an emotional meeting they had.

'Man,' said Drake, after a lot of talking, 'that's a beautiful ship you've got.'

'It's a sign of the sea's poverty,' said Jon Arabin. 'When the fish get fewer, the fisherman gets a better net. And she's not mine – I own but a quarter of her.'

'Man,' said Drake, 'she'd be sweet for the run to Ling. How long since you were down there last?'

'Not since we were there together,' said Jon Arabin. 'Aye, and I'm not likely to go again.'

'Man, why not?' said Drake. 'The Dragon, surely she'd near enough to fly. Aye, a hundred leagues a day, mayhap. We'd be clear down to Ling in eight or nine days.'Jon Arabin laughed.

'With the winds being what they are,' said he, T think even a ten-day voyage would be but a dream. But, in any case, none wants to risk the voyage. There's been toomany tales of what happened on our last.' 'This is serious,' said Drake. 'Why so?' asked Jon Arabin.

'There's two stories,' said Drake. 'One is for all to hear, the other for you alone. The public story is that we seek pearl-wealth to fund an army to throw Morgan Hearst out of Estar, aye, and regain the place for Lord Miphon and Lord Blackwood. We promise power and plunder to tempt men to our enterprise. But there's a little more to it than that. Remember how those in Ling planted a snake in my body?'

'Aye,' said Arabin, 'I remember you babbling about such just after your hostage-time ended. But I thought it a story. I picked you as being good with stories.'

'This story has truth to it,' said Drake. 'There was indeed a snake.'